Brake-shoe.



No. 710,530. Patented Oct. 7, I902.

. SNOW.

E SHOE.

pphcation filed Aug. 5, 1902.)

(No- Model.)

- A TTOHNE Y Y wumusrom n. c. I

UNITED STATES PATENT ELMER J. SNOYV, OF MAHWAII, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN BRAKE SHOE AND FOUNDRY. COMPANY, OF JERSEY OITY, NEl/V JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWV JERSEY.

BRAKE-SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,530, dated October 7, 1902.

Application filed August 5,1902. Serial No. 118,430. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER J. SNOW, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mahwah, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake- Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in brake-shoes, and more particularly to those used or employed on railway-cars and locomotives. As is well known, shoes of this character have their body portions formed of cast-iron and provided with a lug to receive a key for attaching the head thereto, the lug being cast integral with said body portion. In recent years, however, by reason of the high rate of speed attained by trains and the extreme pressure exerted by the quick-acting brakes now in common use it has become necessary to materially strengthen the brakeshoes in order to withstand the terrific shock and vibration to which they are subjected and also the heat generated by its frictional contact with the car-wheel, and to accomplish such strengthening-plates have been inserted into or upon the shoe during the operation of casting, the plate being so associated or combined with the metal of which the shoe is formed that in the finished article it practically forms an integral part thereof. It is also well known to those who have had any practical experience in the production of brake-shoes that in the formation of the attaching-lug the metal, being comparatively thin, will many times so rapidly chill as to render it extremely brittle and unable to withstand the strain imposed upon it by the key when the latter is driven through the opening in the same to attach the head thereto. Even though every precaution be taken in the casting of the shoe to prevent this and other imperfections in the metal of which the attaching-lug is formed, such part is usually found to be the weakest, and not only in the practical use of the shoe is the same often fractured or destroyed, but also in the handling of the same in the foundry and during shipment. Various ways and means have been devised to overcome this defect and materially strengthen this part of the shoe, but with little or no success. For instance, it has been attempted to form the attaching-lug in one piece with the steel or wrought-metal. strengthening-plate, in other instances with the inserts of comparatively hard or soft metal, and, again, to form the entire lug of wrought or malleable iron and drive the same into a wrought-iron shoe or to'embedor anchor the same within the body during the casting of the shoe. In my experience, however, with shoes so made I have found that such are impractical, owing in some instances to the increased cost and in other instances to the difficulty in properly casting the metal around the inserted parts so that in the unequal cooling of the different metals fractures, blow-holes, and other imperfections in the finished shoe will be avoided. These difficulties, however,I have avoided in my present invention, wherein instead of forming the lug entirely of wrought or malleable iron and either separate from or integral with the strengthening-plate I employ both metals that is, I form the lug of cast-iron either with or without an upper wall and with an interior lining, forming a wall around the key-opening of wrought or malleable iron or steel or other metal sufficiently tough and ductile to withstand the strain to be imposed thereon, the lining being properly anchored within the body of the shoe to prevent itsdisengagement therefrom.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of construction, as will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a brake-shoe constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation and partly in section, showing in dotted outline a Christie head applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the wrought-metal lining for the attaching-lug. Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views of a modified form of attaching-lug, Fig. 5 being taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing my improvement applied to a steel-back brakeshoe.

Referring to the drawings, 7 represents a brake-shoe of any desired pattern, that illustrated in the drawings being of the Master Oar-Builders type, it being understood, however, that the invention is in no wise limited thereto, as the same is applicable to any form or style of shoe wherein a lug and fasteningkey are employed for attaching a head thereto. At about the center of the length of the shoe is formed an attaching-lug, which in shoes of the ordinary form consists whollyof cast-iron and formed integral with the body thereof, an opening being formed in the lug to allow of the passage through it of the fastening-key. In myimproved shoe, however, I employ a lining 8, made of steel, wrought or malleable iron, or other tough and ductile metal, the shape or form of which is illustrated in Fig. 4, and in size adapted to line the key-opening in the lug 9 for the purpose of strengthening the latter. This lining in its preferred form consists of the slightly-diverging vertical sides 10, the lower edges of which are curved or bent outwardly, as shown at 11, for providing an anchorage for the same in the metal of which the shoe or body '7 is made and the upper or horizontal wall 12 slightly curved or dished in the direction of its length for the purposes hereinafter explained.

In forming the shoe the lining 8 is fitted over a core inserted in the mold and the cast metal allowed to so flow around the same as to form the lug 9 of proper thickness, the cast metal, however, being prevented from flowing over the upper or top plate 12 of the lining, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the top wall or plate of the lug in this instance being formed wholly of the lining itself. If desired, however, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the cast metal may be allowed to cover the lining, as shown at 14, the completed lug having the same outward or external appearance as that usually made entirely of cast metal. In either instance the cast metal is extended over and upon the corners or edges 15 of the lining to assist in retaining the latter within the lug and overcoming all danger of its disengagement from the body of the shoe.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings Ihave illustrated in cross-section a brake-shoe constructed with a steel back-that is, a shoe wherein a steel plate or back is employed for strengthening the same. have been patented, are in daily use, and well known to those skilled in the art, no detail description or illustration thereof is deemed necessary, 16, Fig. 7, representing the cast-iron body of the shoe, 17 the steel back or reinforcing-plate, and 18 the lug cast integral with the body' 16. In this form of shoe the steel lining 19 instead of having its lower edges curved or bent outwardly and anchored in the metal of the body of the As a number of such shoes shoe are bent or curved, as shown at 20, around the edges of the steel back 17, thereby securely locking said lining in place.

By curving the upper wall or plate 12 of the lining the cast-metal plate 14:, covering the same, may be materially increased in thickness, and thereby add to the strength of the lug where such is most needed. Further more, the lug is thereby provided with a flaring entrance better serving to receive and guide the attaching-key when driven into and through the opening. In addition to these advantages it will be understood that any pressure exerted on the wall 12 by the key will tend to crowd the metal of which said wall is made upon itself and force the sides 10 of the lining against the sides of the cast-iron lug, and thereby tighten said lining in place rather than to draw the walls 10 of the lining away from the sides of the lug, which would be more apt to be the case were the upper wall straight or flat or curved in the opposite direction and pressure exerted upon the same by an ill-fitting key.

From the foregoing it will be understood that by forming the lug as described the latter is materially strengthened and all danger of the same becoming fractured or destroyed either in practical use or in handling or shippingthe same overcome, the upper or outer wall of the lug upon which most of the pressure is exerted by the key being made wholly or partially of wrought-iron or other tough or ductile metal capable of withstanding the strain to which it is usually subjected.

I am aware that brake-shoes have been devised wherein the attaching lug is made wholly of wrought or malleable iron, steel, or other comparatively tough metal, and hence I make no claim to such; but Iam not aware that shoes have been constructed wherein the attaching-lug has been made of cast-iron formed in one piece with the body of the shoe and having an interior lining of wrought or malleable iron forming a strengthening-wall around the key-openingin said lug, and there fore Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A brake-shoe, the same consisting of a body portion and an attaching-lug cast in one piece therewith, said lug containing a lining forming a strengthening wall around the opening therein, substantially as described.

2. A brake-shoe, the same consisting of a body portion having an attaching-lug cast integral therewith, and a lining contained within said lug forming a strengthening wall around the key-opening therein and anchored in the metal forming said body portion, substantially as described.

3. A brake-shoe, the same consisting of a body portion provided with an attaching-lug cast integral therewith, and a lining of comparatively tough metal contained within said lug and forming a strengthening-wall around the key-opening therein, substantially as described.

4. A brake-shoe, the same consisting of a body portion having an attaching-lug cast integral therewith, said lug being formed with a key-opening through the same, a reinforced lining contained within said lug and forming a strengthening-wall around said opening, the top or outer plate of said lining being curved inwardly into said opening, substantially as described.

5. A brake-shoe, the same consisting of a body portion provided with an attaching-lug cast integral therewith, and a lining of comparatively tough metal contained within said lug and forming a strengthening-Wall around the key-opening therein, the top or outer wall of said lug being curved inwardly and forming the top or outer wall of saidlug, substantially as described.

6. A brake-shoe, the same consisting of a body portion having an attaching-lug cast integral therewith, and provided with a steel back or reinforcing-plate, and a lining of comparatively tough metal contained within said lug and forming a strengthening-wall around the key-opening therein, said lining having its ends locked to said steel back, substantially as described.

Signed at Mahwah, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, this 29th day of July, A. D. 1902.

ELMER J. SNOXV.

Witnesses:

CORNELIUS D. JOHNSON, HENRY HAPP. 

